Boston, MA
Fight Night (Ann Arbor)
Five contenders. Five rounds. Your vote. Only one will survive.
Five candidates. One winner. You decide who survives. On the brink of a presidential election that people on both sides have called the most consequential in history, Belgium’s extraordinary Ontroerend Goed offers a fun and thought-provoking, examination of free will and politics that puts electronic voting devices — and the candidates’ fates — directly into the hands of audience members. First created in 2013, seemingly a lifetime ago in the political landscape, this critically acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe Festival hit has been reimagined for the present day, with each performance taking a different turn depending on those in the audience. This resolutely political show contains no identifiable political message, ideology, or social or economic reality, but draws attention to the reasons and motivations that cause people to vote in a certain way and how the battle for our attention, sympathy, and approval reveal surprising and superficial snap judgments. If you are sick and tired of the constant bombardment of political antagonism in every facet of life, this immersive and sharp analysis of democracy will force you to step back and consider why we care so much; it is “funny, revealing, and very invigorating…You will encounter things that no US company would dare do.” (Chicago Tribune)
Audience Role
Attendees will vote using a clicker.
Ages: 16 +
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15
Events
6
Years on EI
About ONTROEREND GOED
Theatre-performance-group Ontroerend Goed (a punning name, roughly translated as “Feel Estate”) produces self-devised work grounded in the here and now, inviting their audiences to participate as well as observe. They first emerged on the international scene in 2007, with ‘The Smile Off Your Face’, a one-on-one show in which the audience is tied to a wheelchair and then blindfolded. Their hit show ‘Once and For All’ was an uncompromising celebration of raw teenage energy on stage. With every new piece of work, Ontroerend Goed provides an intense experience constructed in reality; life goes on during the performance. The company has won numerous prizes across Europe and has hit New York, Sydney, London to critical acclaim. Their work is currently being performed in countries around the world Ontroerend Goed functions as a collective guided by the artistic director Alexander Devriendt. Convinced that every idea deserves its own brand of artistic expression, the company cherishes a sense of ownership for every single contributor to their work, from actors to light designers, scenographers to conceptual thinkers. Ontroerend Goed fabricates possible realities that question how we as individuals position ourselves in the world today. Covering a history of the universe in one evening, turning spectators into voters who eliminate actors, guiding strangers through a labyrinth of mirrors and avatars to meet themselves, the company has made it its trademark to be unpredictable in content and form.